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A former Gahanna-Lincoln High School student was sentenced to probation today on a misdemeanor
delinquency charge of inducing panic by posting an online video that some classmates considered
threatening.

In March, Spencer Pearson, 17, admitted to the charge in front of Franklin County Juvenile
Court Magistrate Hanne Jorgensen.

Originally charged with a felony-level delinquency count of inducing panic, he admitted to a
lesser charge in a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Pearson was arrested on Sept. 3 after police tracked several tweets and two YouTube videos to
a computer in his home on Northwood Circle in Gahanna. Authorities said his videos and messages
spurred 200 calls to police from concerned parents and students.

The biggest stir was caused by a video in which a cartoonlike figure with a
computer-generated or altered voice criticized Gahanna-Lincoln students for “how you live your
lives.” The voice concluded, “Next time, I will have something more interesting to show you all.”

In March, Pearson’s mother told the magistrate that he was enrolled in ECOT, an online
school.